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The bubble finally
burst on Wednesday last week. After a long time, Speaker of the House
of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole and a member of the House,
Independence Ogunewe, came close to boxing each other openly that day.
But for the intervention of some members, perhaps, there would have
been bloodshed that day.

But let’s look at
the genesis of the enmity between Messrs Bankole and Ogunewe, a member
representing Ahiazu Mbaise/Ezinihitte federal constituency of Imo State
on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). In October 2008,
the Speaker redeployed Mr Ogunewe from the Committee on Aviation to the
Committee on Cooperation and Integration in Africa as chairman. Bethel
Amadi, another Imo lawmaker from Imo State who had been the Chief Whip
during Patricia Etteh’s tenure as Speaker, was named chairman of the
Aviation Committee. The redeployment angered Mr Ogunewe for two reasons.

First, he
identified with the Integrity Group, a pressure group in the House,
which played a prominent role in installing Mr Bankole as Speaker the
previous year.

In fact, in one of
the rowdy sessions that preceded the forced resignation of Mrs Etteh,
Mr Ogunewe almost went violent in the quest to oust the former Speaker.

Second, Mr
Ogunewe’s Aviation Committee top seat was given to Mr Amadi with whom
he had formed some form of alliance to fight Emeka Ihedioha, who had
then become the Chief Whip of the House. Mr Ogunewe had reportedly eyed
the position too, but lost to Mr Ihedioha, a fellow Mbaise man.

To break Mr
Ogunewe’s back, Mr Ihedioha reportedly used his influence with the
leadership to send Mr Ogunewe to the Committee on Cooperation and
Integration, perceived as a less influential committee, and gave Mr
Amadi the Aviation Committee to chair. Thus, Mr Amadi automatically
ceased to be Mr Ogunewe’s ally.

The result was that
Mr Ogunewe went to war against the leadership, not just Mr Ihedioha.
Indeed, he allegedly hired some people who went to town claiming that
Mr Ihedioha was not an Mbaise man.

In 2009, Mr Ogunewe
and a handful of others spearheaded the campaign for a probe of the
N2.3 billion car scandal, apparently with the hope of nailing the
leadership of the House who allegedly padded the cost of the 308
vehicles. The struggle had a short life span after the leadership was
cleared by the Ethics and Privileges Committee. But though many of the
members of the group were sacked as committee chairmen, he seemed to be
the arrowhead of the group. Even when the group fizzled out, he
continued to fight.

At the plenary
session on February 26, 2009, he was suspended for two weeks, sacked as
chairman of the Committee on Cooperation and Integration and stripped
of his membership of other committees. Since then, there has been no
love lost between himself and Mr Bankole.

Blames all round

There have been
fitful attempts at reconciliation, but promises by the Speaker to
restore him to his chairmanship position were never kept. However,
unconfirmed report say the Speaker assisted him in some other ways,
especially in the area of trips. Mr Bankole also visited him at home
but met only his wife.

But for a man who has no other work to do at the assembly except to sit in plenary, it was something too hard to swallow.

Sources say after
the two-hour meeting the Speaker had with committee chairmen and
deputies that Wednesday, Mr Ogunewe got wind of the plan by the Speaker
to name new committee chairmen and he was not considered for any of the
posts.

That, perhaps, was the reason he asked the Speaker, “is that all?” during the brawl with the Speaker.

Mr Ogunewe’s
frustration clearly drove him to do what is not honourable – harassing
the Speaker in public. Although parliaments are not immune from rows,
he did not show respect for that exalted office of the Speaker.
Besides, he was not conscious of the fact that he is the elder. At
nearly 50, Mr Ogunewe should have maintained some decorum in his
behaviour.

The Speaker has
some share of the blame too. He did not act maturely. Mr Bankole almost
confirmed that he was ‘a mad man’ by pushing to physically attack Mr
Ogunewe. Can two people be mad at the same time? Couldn’t Mr Bankole
have exercised restrain, and deal with the matter later? Does he not
have all the official powers to tame Mr Ogunewe?

Some form of
respect is expected of leaders. Mr Bankole did not behave as one. No
matter the extent of confrontation by his subjects, a leader must act
like one.

Patience is one of the greatest attributes of a leader and he is judged by it, among other things.

Now, Mr Ogunewe reportedly apologized to the Speaker during the
executive session later that day for embarrassing him. The scar of a
sore does not disappear easily even long after it has healed. The
matter is now before the State Security Services. The security
operatives grilled Mr Ogunewe for hours last week. Isn’t that a bad
image for the House, whose public perception is lamentable? Nobody can
tell really how this matter will end. It is almost certain that other
things will follow.